By Alpha Abu
Workers of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDA) have undergone two days of training in Business Plan Development to build up their technical capacity and meet the criteria set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for a pending project.
Regional Coordinators, Programme and Business Development Officers from the four regional offices of the country, and other staff from the main office in Freetown took part in the training that would prepare them to handle the ‘Opportunity Salone Project’ supervised by ILO and funded by the European Union (EU).
It is expected that SMEDA workers would be better equipped to in turn provide technical assistance to small and medium enterprises in implementing the project.
Chief Executive Officer of SMEDA, Sharka Samuel Sannoh in addressing the workers to mark the end of the training, said the exercise is expected to positively impact the growth and development of small and medium businesses in Sierra Leone. He stated that SMEDA has a critical role to play in the implementation of the project hence its lead in pooling manpower, and imparting the requisite skills to those who will engage the beneficiaries of the project.
He cautioned the workers against any form of exploitation of the people they will be working with under the opportunity Salone project, but also encouraged them to transfer the knowledge and skill they have acquired from the training, to help improve small and medium businesses.
The EU is providing 8 Million Euros under its "Job and Growth Project" as support. It is a four-year project that will be concentrated in the districts of Port Loko, Bombali, Bo, and Kenema.
Palm oil, Cassava, Vegetables, and Cocoa are the intervention areas that will go through enhanced value chain initiatives to improve yield and quality.
Rehabilitation and maintenance of feeder roads, enhanced job creation for youths, women, and persons with disability, technical assistance, and financial support to SMEs in the agribusiness and agro-processing value chains are the key components of the project. The training was carried out by a team of technical experts in Business Plan Development and Impact Entrepreneurship.
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